


Reunited/Apart

by tikkikwami



Category: The Adventure Zone (Podcast), The Adventure Zone: Amnesty (Podcast)
Genre: Fluff, M/M, Mutual Pining, Set after episode 31, Trans Duck Newton
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-10
Updated: 2019-08-10
Packaged: 2020-08-14 12:14:37
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,755
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20192110
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tikkikwami/pseuds/tikkikwami
Summary: “Yes, and it’s a fine plan, folks.”Confused and startled, Duck looked down at the sketchbook at his feet. It had sketches that looked… familiar. Looking up, he saw the man he thought he’d never see again: Indrid.“It could probably use a bit more work.” The light caught on Indrid’s glasses for a moment, almost distracting Duck from his bright smile.





	Reunited/Apart

**Author's Note:**

> So this is set right after episode 31 and diverges from canon there. I'm trying to clear out my WIP folder and post stuff even if I'm not entirely happy with it. Thanks for sticking by my side anyway!

“Yes, and it’s a fine plan, folks.” 

Confused and startled, Duck looked down at the sketchbook at his feet. It had sketches that looked… familiar. Looking up, he saw the man he thought he’d never see again: Indrid. 

“It could probably use a bit more work.” The light caught on Indrid’s glasses for a moment, almost distracting Duck from his bright smile. 

He couldn’t help but grin back. “Indrid! How the fuck did you get into town?” 

He strode into the room and picked up his sketchbook. “Let’s stay on task, shall we? We need to get Mama back ASAP. So here’s how we can do that…” The plan primarily involved Barclay. He was the closest of all of them to Stern, and when he would ask if he could just visit Mama, Stern would eventually say yes. Then he could talk to Mama about when she would be released by the FBI, or how best to break her out of their control if that wasn’t sometime within the next couple of days.

As Indrid told the group that this was the plan with the highest chance of success, Duck just looked at him. He was wearing a jacket he was sure was new, and had he gotten a haircut? He looked _handsome_. Surprised by his own thoughts, Duck felt his cheeks go red as he tuned back into the conversation.

*

Indrid had almost forgotten that Duck was just a friendly acquaintance at best. He could call him his friend, but they’d barely spoken before Indrid took off for the next four months. 

In that time, he’d spent a lot of time looking at his visions and drawing them out. So many of them included a certain Duck Newton that he had to throw a small recycling bin’s worth of drawings of him out before returning to Kepler. No need to bring those where Duck might see them.

He only kept two of these drawings. One had Duck smiling at him like he had stars in his eyes. That was the moment he realized Indrid had returned to Kepler. The other drawing hadn’t happened yet. It was of Duck holding tightly onto Indrid like he’d never let go. When he looked at it, he felt a certain sense of yearning, and he knew he couldn’t just throw away the drawing. It felt important.

But the majority of the drawings he’d gotten rid of showed him and Duck together. Arm in arm, walking through the forest. Holding hands while Aubrey showed them a new magic trick. Duck leaning in to kiss Indrid on the cheek while the seer looked happier than he’d been in years. 

So when he saw Duck and realized none of that was real, that they barely knew each other? He felt a strange sense of loss. He’d come to think of Duck as more than a friend simply because so many of his visions featured him, and of those, many were romantic. 

But seeing him _so excited_ to see Indrid again? That helped a lot.

*

That night, Duck couldn’t sleep. 

First of all, Dani and Aubrey were laughing in his living room. So the noise wasn’t helping. But he could usually sleep through their late-night shenanigans, so why couldn’t he sleep now?

Indrid. Indrid was why.

Duck sighed and hugged his pillow, feeling a smile spread across his face. _Indrid_. He’d come back to Kepler! 

Honestly, Duck had been worried about him. That he’d gotten caught by the government, or somehow hurt. He’d last seen him as a wounded moth person with no access to his disguise, the glasses having been thrown across the clearing when Duck punched him.

Oh. He needed to apologize for that.

Duck felt his face heat up with a blush as he hid his face in his pillow. He hadn’t missed Indrid, per se; he barely knew him. But he was filled with inexplicable joy at seeing him again. He was just so _charming_ that Duck couldn’t help but look forward to talking to him the next day. 

Oh, shit. Duck recognized this feeling. He had a crush. He had a crush on the Mothman. Great.

Flustered, Duck took a deep breath and willed himself to fall asleep.

*

The next morning, Duck decided he was going to visit Indrid. He’d parked his winnebago in the nearest campgrounds, which was only a couple of miles away. 

He couldn’t help but fuss over his appearance. He didn’t want to look like he was trying to look extra good for Indrid, but he definitely did want to look nice. He took a shower, shaved, and put his hair in a tidy man-bun. Duck decided that he’d best wear normal clothes or else somebody might notice his extra effort.

But when he walked out into the living room, Aubrey and Minerva were talking in conspiratorially low voices. “G’mornin’,” Duck said, pouring himself some coffee. “What’s goin’ on?” 

“Noooothing,” Aubrey said with a shit-eating grin. 

“We were simply talking about your crush, Duck Newton!” Minerva said in her booming voice. 

“Keep it down,” he hissed, feeling his face turn red. “I know you can talk in a normal voice.” 

Minerva laughed. “Yes, but it’s fun to embarrass you,” she said, her voice a more normal tone. 

“Besides, it’s not like it’s a secret, really,” Aubrey giggled. “I mean, I don’t know if _all_ of the others noticed it. Dani and Jake definitely did, though.”

“Noticed what?” Duck asked, exasperated. 

Aubrey’s eyes glinted with mischief. “The way you were looking at him like he hung the moon in the sky,” she said. “I mean, I know you kept checking him out last time he was in town, but c’mon.” 

“I’m not- I didn’t- I wasn’t checking him out!” Duck insisted, taking a sip of coffee as an excuse not to talk. 

“You certainly were,” Minerva corrected him. “Besides, wanting a companion is nothing to be ashamed of! Warriors with somebody to come home to often fight the best in battle!”

“Do y’all really not have anythin’ to do other than gossip about me and my supposed crush?” Duck asked, rubbing his hand over his face, unsuccessful at hiding his blush. 

Aubrey shook her head. “And you didn’t even deny it,” she pointed out, laughing. 

“Okay, so what,” he grumbled. “A man’s allowed to have a crush.” 

“On the Mothman?” Aubrey teased, grinning. “I mean, you don’t know him all that well.” 

Duck rolled his eyes and leaned against the doorframe. “Aubrey, when we met Dani, you basically fell in love at first sight.”

“That’s fair,” Aubrey said, giggling. “That’s absolutely correct.” 

“So leave me alone before I die of embarrassment,” Duck admonished, opening the fridge to pull out some berries.

*

Indrid felt nervous that Duck was coming over. Excited, but nervous. 

He’d gotten new clothes since he’d last seen the ranger, and he’d taken a shower that morning already. There were no dirty glasses laying around this time, as he couldn’t travel without them falling, so everything was neatly put away. But he still didn’t feel as impressive as he wanted to. 

“Come in,” he said as Duck lifted his hand to knock on his winnebago door. “How are you this morning?” 

“I’m doin’ good,” Duck said, closing the door behind him and sitting on Indrid’s couch. “Listen, I know this ain’t exactly-”

“-a nice conversation topic,” Indrid said with him. “That’s fine. Go ahead.” 

“I jus’ need to be able to tell Aubrey somethin’. She’s real shook up ‘bout Ned dyin’ - hell, we all are, but ‘specially her - and I just wanted to, y’know. Ask about that.” Duck wasn’t meeting his eyes, instead just looking at the sketches on his walls.

Indrid folded his hands over his lap. “That’s a difficult situation,” he said, biting his lip in his nervousness. “To be frank, that shouldn’t have happened. It was such a low probability that I wasn’t even concerned for it happening at all.” 

“Oh,” Duck said, finally meeting his eyes. He looked relieved.

Indrid’s voice got softer. “If I could have stopped it or warned anyone, I would have. You know that, Duck.”

“Yeah, I do,” the ranger agreed. “Thanks for bein’ willing to talk about it. I’m gonna talk to Aubrey ‘bout that sometime soon.” He swallowed, seeming to carefully choose his words. “It’s been a couple’a months, but a lot of us are still grievin’. I know you didn’t have a hand in his death, but some others might not see it that way.”

Indrid hummed, standing up and walking to his fridge. He knew this, and he wanted to change the subject. “Would you like some nog? Homemade, this time.” 

“How fancy,” Duck teased, grinning. “Sure, why not.” He studied the drawings on Indrid’s walls while he poured them glasses of eggnog. “The Pine Guard’s in your drawings a lot.” Indeed, about half of the drawings had members of the Pine Guard in them, while the rest were sketches of buildings and landscapes.

“You all are a big part of my personal future, it seems,” Indrid said, handing him his glass. “I tend to just draw whatever seems most important, and you all are apparently quite important.” 

Duck nodded toward the drawing of him smiling. “Seems important,” he chuckled. 

Indrid felt his face heat up with a blush. “I just liked that one,” he admitted. “That’s what you looked like when I walked through the Cryptonomica door, you know.” 

Then it was the ranger’s turn to blush, Indrid noticed with interest. “I didn’t realize I looked so fuckin’ excited,” he mumbled, taking a sip. “Damn, Aubrey was right.” At Indrid’s smirk, Duck sighed and rubbed his face with his hands. “You saw our conversation this mornin’, didn’t you?” 

“I try not to eavesdrop,” Indrid said, “but it’s difficult. I have to focus in on something closely to ignore my visions, and I wasn’t busy when that vision showed up.” 

“So the answer is yeah,” Duck said, not meeting Indrid’s eyes. “Listen, I-” 

“-don’t wanna come on too strong,” Indrid finished for him. He took a sip of eggnog. “I understand. Tell you what, let’s try being friends and see where this goes.” 

Duck looked up at him with relief. “That sounds good, yeah.” Then he paused. “D’you wanna come over and hang out? We got movies and, shit, have you even met Minerva?” 

“I’ve seen her in visions, and she seems like quite the handful,” Indrid said, grinning. “Sure, why not.” 

*

After a few hours of hanging out, watching movies with Duck’s roommates and such, Indrid knew he was _fucked_. Because his crush on Duck wasn’t fading in the slightest. It was only growing.

Encouragingly, they got a call from Barclay that evening. He’d been able to get through to Mama. She was safe - under lock and key, but safe - and instructed him to lead the charge against the Quell. They were going to attack tomorrow morning. 

Of course, it remained to be seen exactly how they were going to break through the portal, considering it was surrounded by the FBI. They decided their best bet was to just talk to somebody in charge about it. Although it was stressful, Indrid could see with his future vision that it had a significant chance of working, even though it sounded improbable. 

Looking at Duck fondly, Indrid took a sip of his drink so he didn’t have to talk. He didn’t have much time with him left before he left to fight the Quell, and Indrid refused to look at those visions - he couldn’t stand it if he saw something bad happen to Duck.

“Can I talk to you for a minute alone?” Indrid asked, never taking his eyes off of Duck. 

“Uh, yeah, sure,” Duck said, standing up. “Y’wanna go take a walk? There’s a li’l path through the forest within easy walkin’ distance.”

At Indrid’s nod, Duck nodded his head toward the door. “I’ll be back later.” Aubrey and Minerva waved as they left. 

*

“So what did you want to talk about?” Duck asked as they neared the forest. 

Indrid’s mouth was dry. “I’m just… worried,” he said, biting his lip. “I’m doing all I can not to look at tomorrow’s futures, but it’s overwhelming.” 

“Oh,” Duck said, slowing down his walk until they were both stopped, looking at once another. “Indrid, we’re gonna do all we can and jus’ hope for the best. That’s all we can do.” 

Indrid nodded. So much was riding on this. If the Quell went undefeated, the survival of Earth itself would be threatened.

Duck sighed. “I know it’s real possible this is a suicide mission. I know that. But I have to try, Indrid. I’m Chosen for a reason.” 

“I know,” Indrid mumbled, not meeting Duck’s eyes. “There is no future where the team succeeds without you.” He took a deep breath before looking back at Duck. “You’re important. Not just to the battle, but to the people around you. You have to be careful.” 

“Well, ‘m not gonna die on purpose,” Duck said with a lopsided smile. “C’mon. I’m gonna be okay.” 

“Okay,” Indrid responded, and they resumed walking. “It would be a real shame if we never got to know each other better.” 

“We’ll hang out after the battle, right?” Duck said lightheartedly, bumping his shoulder against Indrid’s. “Have faith, bud. The Pine Guard’s got this.” 

Indrid just nodded, unable to speak. He was still worried.

*

The next morning, Indrid accompanied them to the gate. He wouldn’t be fighting in the final battle - being distracted during battle by a vision could end his life in a heartbeat. But he wanted to see them off. 

Somehow, Barclay’s charm along with Duck’s trustworthy nature convinced a higher-up to allow them to get through the gate. They already knew the situation with the Quell, and honestly, sending a few low-priority people through the gate on a suicide mission was hardly the worst the FBI could do at that point. So they agreed to let them through. 

Aubrey held up her hands, light glowing through them until the portal opened. “C’mon, everybody,” she said, striding through. Then she was gone. 

Indrid turned to Duck. “Hey,” the ranger said, reaching for Indrid’s hand and giving it a light squeeze. “I’m gonna be okay.” 

Instead of answering, Indrid pulled him into a firm, desperate kiss. “Be safe,” he whispered, pressing his forehead against Duck’s. “I have complete faith in your abilities.” 

“I’m- uh, okay,” Duck said. His blush was strong enough that Indrid could feel it under his hands. 

“Come on, lover boy,” Thacker said, patting Duck’s back. 

Duck stepped away from Indrid, a grin on his face. “I’m comin’ back real soon, an’ we’re gonna talk about this.” 

“See you soon,” Indrid responded with a small smile. And then they were gone. 

He headed back to his winnebago and tried to do _anything_ to keep himself distracted. He listened to overstimulating music while knitting. He listened to a podcast while he folded laundry. He even went on a walk through the woods while reciting old sylph song lyrics. 

Nothing was working. He could only think of Duck. 

Hesitantly, he sat down on his couch, taking a deep breath. And he looked at his visions. 

Instantly, he regretted it. There were _so many_ things that could go wrong. Aubrey and the heart of the Quell - which looked surprisingly similar to Aubrey, actually - were facing off at that exact moment. Closing his eyes tightly, Indrid willed the images to go away before he could see any of his friends get hurt. 

*

Exhausted, Duck coiled up Beacon. “We won,” he said hoarsely. 

“We won!” Aubrey cheered. Laughing, Thacker pulled her into a hug. 

They won.

*

Indrid was waiting on the other side of the portal as Duck stepped through. He’d never seen someone look as anxious as Indrid did in that moment. As soon as they saw each other, Indrid pulled Duck into a tight hug, holding onto him as if he’d never let go. 

Just like in that drawing of a vision he had so many weeks ago.

“I’m so glad you’re safe,” Indrid whispered, hiding his face in Duck’s neck. 

“Me, too,” Duck laughed, rubbing Indrid’s back. “Hey, so about earlier…” 

“Do you want to go on a date with me?” Indrid said in unison with Duck, leaning back to grin at him. “Yes. Yes, I do.”

“Good,” Duck mumbled, and Indrid admired the pretty blush on his face. 

He was looking forward to that date.

**Author's Note:**

> Comments make my day!


End file.
